Takeo Fukuda

Takeo Fukuda (14 January 1905-5 July 1995) was Prime Minister of Japan from 24 December 1976 to 7 December 1978, succeeding Takeo Miki and preceding Masayoshi Ohira. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

Biography
Takeo Fukuda was born in Gunma, Gunma Prefecture, Japan in 1905, and he served as a Finance Ministry bureaucrat and as Chief Cabinet Secretary during World War II. He directed Japan's banking bureau from 1946 to 1947 and the budget bureau from 1947 to 1950, and he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1952. Fukdua rose to be party secretary in 1957 and served as Agriculture Minister from 1959 to 1969, Finance Minister from 1969 to 1971, Foreign Minister from 1971 to 1973, and Director of the Economic Planning Agency from 1974 to 1976. He took over the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan from Takeo Miki after the party's poor performance in the 1976 elections, making him the new Prime Minister. Fukuda was regarded as a conservative and hawk on foreign policies, but he caved in to the demands of the Japanese Red Army after the 1977 hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 472, giving the terrorists $6 million and releasing nine imprisoned JRA members, earning him international criticism. In an effort to end the LDP's factionalism, he introduced primary elections, but he ironically lost the 1978 primary to Masayoshi Ohira, ending his term.